It's been years since I made scones, but I honestly can't tell you why. They were one of the first baked goods I'd ever made, mainly because they were easy and didn't require any special equipment. But I adore scones, so much so that they're usually my pastry of choice in a coffee shop, so it was time to revisit my beloved baked good.

This scone recipe came out of the fact that a bag of toffee chips has been lurking in my baking pantry, quietly urging me to make something delicious with them. Toffee reminds me of brittle, which makes me think of nuts, so click! Toffee Almond Scones was born. These scones are a welcome change from the cream or fruit laden ones, but they're not so sweet that you can't have one for breakfast. The secret to the light texture here? Grating frozen butter on a box grater. Trust me people, you'll never cube up cold butter for recipes again once you've tried this method. So make a batch of these and savor with a café au lait on a lazy Saturday morning.(Click "Read More" below for the full recipe.)

Heat the oven to 450°F and arrange a rack in the middle. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

Combine the measured flour, baking powder, granulated sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl and whisk to aerate and break up any lumps. Add the toffee chips and almonds and toss until well combined; set aside. Whisk together 3/4 cup of the heavy cream and the egg in a small bowl until the egg is broken up; set aside.

Grate the frozen butter through the large holes on a box grater; add it to the flour mixture and toss with your hands until well combined. Pour the cream mixture into the flour mixture and stir with a rubber spatula until the dough just comes together and is shaggy, making sure there is no dry flour at the bottom of the bowl.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. With lightly floured hands, knead about 1 or 2 turns to help the dough stay together, then gently pat and shape it into an 8-inch circle about 1/2-inch thick. Dip a large sharp knife in some extra flour, tap off the excess, and cut into 8 wedges.

Place the scones at least 3/4 inch apart on the prepared baking sheet. Brush the tops of the scones with the remaining 1 tablespoon of cream and sprinkle with the coarse sugar. Bake until the scones are puffed and the tops are golden and flecked with brown, about 12 minutes. (If the scones on one side of the pan begin to get too dark, rotate the pan to ensure even cooking.)

Remove the scones to a wire rack to cool at least 15 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

While most people may be feasting on heirloom tomatoes this time of year, I'm most excited when these little jewels show up: Sun Gold tomatoes. The orange-colored jewels have the perfect blend of sweetness and intense tomato flavor, making them one of the my favorite summer snacks.

I apologize for not attaching a recipe today, but how about a few ideas on using Sun Gold tomatoes instead?

Sometimes new recipes are born out necessity. In this case, the need to use up a large bag of gigantic sweet Bing cherries and some almond flour that's been sitting in the freezer forever. I'm not one to waste food, so I actually enjoy the challenges of Iron Chef-ing it sometimes to see what I can come up with. It's usually a win-win: food gets used up, and since I've repurposed it into something new, it doesn't feel like stale leftovers.

So that's how these beauties came to life. These easy (seriously, just mix with a spatula) muffins are filled with tons of cherries, and I've replaced some of the all-purpose flour with almond flour to make them more justifiable to eat for breakfast. While I like almond extract here since it pairs well with cherries, you can use vanilla instead, and you can also sub in cream for the milk if you want to make these super-tender and rich. To quote one of Sophie's favorite children's books: "Yum, yum, extra yum." (Click "Read More" below for the full recipe.)

Heat the oven to 400°F and arrange a rack in the middle. Place cupcake liners in a 12-well muffin pan; alternatively, coat the wells with butter or cooking spray. Set the pan aside.

Whisk together the flour, almond flour or meal, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl to break up any lumps and aerate the mixture; set aside.

Whisk together the sugar, melted butter, milk, eggs, and almond or vanilla extract in a medium bowl until smooth. Add this and the cherries to the flour mixture and stir until just evenly mixed (a few lumps will remain), about 30 strokes. (Do not overmix; the batter should be thick, but the ingredients should be evenly incorporated.)

Divide the batter among the muffin wells. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Let the muffins cool in the pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Remove from the pan and serve.

Chocolate has a back seat position in my life. I totally understand its appeal and get the occasional craving for a piece of dark, dark, chocolate, but it's never been an obsession for me. There are two exceptions to the chocolate ambivalence though: serving it with peanut butter, or swirling it into something. And by swirl, I mean melted chocolate swirl, not lumpy chocolate chips action (can you tell I'm not a big fan of chips?).

This cookie recipe is my ideal combination: the dough is a basic chocolate chip cookie dough flavored with dark brown sugar and vanilla, but the fun part comes in the swirl. Melt those pesky chocolate chips until glossy and warm, mix in an equal amount of peanut butter (I used regular commercial peanut butter since that's what I've always eaten since childhood, but let me know in the comments if you use natural peanut butter), and carefully swirl into the dough before baking. I know that swirling is probably the most fun part of this recipe, but the key is not to overswirl so that you get nice gooey pockets of chocolate-y peanut butter. My method of creating a well in the dough might seem strange, but trust me, it's worked well to make those hypnotic patterns in these addictive, chewy cookies. (Click "Read More" below for the full recipe.)

What to Buy: Regular, not natural, peanut butter was used in this recipe.Nice to Know: To freeze these cookies, scoop the dough onto a baking sheet and freeze solid. Transfer to a resealable plastic bag, then bake frozen. Cookies may need 1 to 2 more minutes baking time.

Arrange 2 racks to divide the oven into thirds and heat to 350°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

Melt the chocolate in the microwave in a medium bowl. (Alternatively, melt it over low heat on the stovetop.) Add the peanut butter and mix until smooth and combined. Place in the refrigerator while you make the dough.

Whisk the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda together in a medium bowl and set aside.

Place the butter and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed until aerated and lightened in color, about 3 minutes. Stop the mixer and scrape down the paddle and the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.

Return the mixer to medium speed and add the eggs one at a time, letting each one completely incorporate before adding the next. Add the vanilla and mix until just combined. Stop the mixer and scrape down the paddle and the sides of the bowl.

Turn the mixer to low speed, gradually add the flour mixture, and mix until just combined (be careful not to overmix, a few streaks of flour are okay). Stop the mixer, remove the bowl from the stand, and finish mixing the flour in with the rubber spatula if needed.

Using the rubber spatula, push the dough to the sides of the bowl to form a well about 3-inches wide (make sure you can see the bottom of the bowl). Drizzle about 2/3 of the chocolate-peanut butter mixture into the well. Using the rubber spatula, push the dough on the sides of the bowl over the well.

Drizzle the remaining chocolate-peanut butter mixture over the top. Fold the chocolate-peanut butter mixture into the dough, making sure to reach the bottom of the bowl, just until big streaks are formed, about 3 to 5 strokes (err on the side of less swirling, it will continue to swirl as you scoop the dough out).

Form the dough into 2 tablespoon balls (or use a 1-ounce ice cream scoop) and place on the baking sheets 2-1/2-inches apart (12 to a sheet). Bake 8 minutes. Rotate the sheets between racks and front-to-back and bake until the cookies are just firm and golden brown around the edges, about 7 minutes more.

Transfer the cookies to a wire rack and let cool at least 10 minutes before serving. Let the baking sheets cool (no need for new parchment) and repeat with the remaining dough.

While regular couscous is one of our household staples since it cooks so quickly, I love the chewy texture of Israeli couscous just as much. It's great warm and cooked like a pilaf, but it works just as well in a salad. Dressed with olive oil, lemon juice, and shallot, the salad is rounded out with white beans, crunchy cucumber, and lots of fresh dill. I like to mix in smoked salmon since it plays so nicely with dill, but tuna would be a tasty, inexpensive substitute. This salad comes together in less than 30 minutes and keeps well, making it a perfect thing to pack for a picnic, barbecue, or satisfying lunch. (Click "Read More" below for the full recipe.)

Israeli Couscous and White Bean Salad

Makes: 4 to 6 servingsTotal Time: 25 minutesHands-On Time:25 minutes

What to Buy: Israeli couscous is made from semolina and larger in size than regular couscous.Nice to Know: This salad can be made and refrigerated up to 1 day ahead.

Bring a medium saucepan of heavily salted to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the couscous and cook, stirring occasionally, until just tender, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, make the dressing.

Place the dill, oil, vinegar, and shallot in a large bowl, season with salt and pepper, and whisk to combine; set aside.

When the couscous is ready, drain and rinse under cold water until cool. Drain again thoroughly.

Add the couscous, beans, cucumber, measured salt, and smoked salmon or tuna, if using, to the dressing and toss to combine. Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed. Let sit at least 15 minutes or refrigerate up to 1 day before serving.